- ICR
- Dec 31, 2008
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The guys at bsnboards compiled a list of every single bit of information that has been confirmed for Anthem. I moved it to the 2nd post of the OP so you can keep track if you want to. I'll post this once here for those who haven't seen all the new confirmed info.
quote:Anthem Game Facts
The Game Concept
Team with up to three other players in cooperative adventures that reward both combined effort and individual skill. Each player’s choice of Javelin exosuit will shape their contribution and strategic role. As you explore, you will discover a gripping story filled with unique and memorable characters. Seamless and intelligent matchmaking will ensure you can quickly and easily find other players to adventure alongside.
Launch Date, Demos, Languages & Events
Global Launch date: February 22nd 2019
Demo: We plan to get the game out to a wider group before launch, but can’t discuss specific plans right now.
Signing up for the newsletter offers 'a chance to be selected to play in a pre-launch Anthem demo'.
Pre-Ordering grants 'VIP Access' to the demo.
Two editions, Standard and Legion of Dawn. No collectors' edition planned.
No Timed Exclusives (as far as they know). There's the standard EA Access trial, but no PlayStation versus Xbox.
There will be Events like "Play with the Devs".
[New] Languages:
Voice Over: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian
Text (Subtitles & UI): English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean
The World of Anthem
At the time of its inception, gods known as Shapers used huge pieces of powerful technology to command a force called the Anthem of Creation, forming the planet. Then, they left.
Shaper technology litter the landscape, and they are far from dormant. They seem to activate randomly, causing cataclysmic changes to the world and creating a hostile environment...
Anthem is a world without microchips and a world without mass production.
The world of Anthem has a name they are not revealing yet.
It’s not Earth. “There are humans here, but they are not Earthlings,” Warner says. “There are no ties to Earth or another planet. This was the place they originated.”
You can look up in the sky and there are two moons.
There is a Day/Night Cycle.
“Part of the mystery of the whole IP is: Where did this stuff come from?” Gamble says. “Where did the Scars come from? Where did that giant Titan creature come from?”
Anthem is aiming to be the "HBO series of games". There’s the gameplay and the missions to do, but the context is always changing. There’s always a new narrative situation that evolves over time. To keep players engaged BioWare wants to ease players’ return after a long absence. “In the HBO premise, they will choose at different times, like after a holiday hiatus, they’ll do a ‘last time on Game of Thrones’ thing. I think we’ll end up doing things like that to get you caught up on things going on.”
As an example of their evolving world, they can say there’s a crazy snowstorm this weekend. That lake you used to dive into is now frozen over and you can get to a new cave. You’ve been to that place a bunch of times, but not in that situation. Now everything is different. The other thing is putting everything into an ongoing narrative. It’s not just that there will be daily and weekly events, there are character arcs and world lore story arcs. There’s a long-term narrative about what’s going on in the world that changes over time.
BioWare says that systemic events like changing weather or incoming alien attacks will also be a major focus.
There will be dynamic events that alter the game, and much of it is built around seasons. As the weather changes on the alien world, you’ll experience different conditions, new creatures, and even new story elements as the storyline progresses.
An example Event could be a giant migration of creatures. Specifically mentions "Irsics" (or something like that), which are gigantic, ape-like, insect creatures they apparently haven't shown yet.
“We conceived the world as different ecosystems,” Warner says. “Each ecosystem has its own band of creatures that are native to it. So as you traverse the map, you’re going to encounter different types of creatures.”
There are no allied alien races.
You can 'fast travel'.
The Dominion: Your primary enemy in the story will be the Dominion, a human nation bent on subjugating the other people. The Dominion believes that they can control the tools of the Shapers and bend them to their own purposes. The Dominion are an ancient enemy with a secret in their past and possess their own Javelins.
The Dominion are a pretty aggressive conquering lot from the North. The area of Anthem you play in is obviously part of a larger world. There's a great power in our game which the Anthem of Creation is rooted in. And the Dominion has been trying to figure that out for a very long time. They're very dominant - their name is the Dominion!
"The Dominion are nasty. Especially their leader."
The initial story of Anthem one of the Freelancers versus the Dominion. A classic story that has a beginning, middle, and end. Then that’s over, but the world conflict will continue on and on.
Main Story: The main story has a climax and a conclusion but the game continues after that.
It is basically impossible to spoil the story for your friends during a mission, because so much of the story tied to your SP decisions in Fort Tarsis.
Post-Launch Updates: They will range from small things, like adding a couple of lines of dialogue to a certain NPC, up to adding in new characters, areas, missions. Part of the large investment in Anthem is the ability to continue telling new stories for as long as we want. The want roll out more regular updates than the DLCs they typically do.
Elder Game Content:
- The end game is really important!
- The end game gets more important the day after launch.
- Replayability is a core goal of the content.
- The community is going to help us improve, shape, and drive the long-term direction of the end game content. We will involve you and we will listen to you!
- The end game should be accessible to as much of the community as possible. BUT it shouldn't be watered down in the name of accessibility!
- Content can be difficult, exciting, rewarding, and still be accessible.
- It should NOT foster toxicity or elitism.
- It SHOULD reward achievement, skill, and mastery.
- Easy to understand, difficult to master.
- Puzzles, secrets, and discovery is cool!
There will likely be nods to BioWare's other franchises.
Seasonal Events will be celebrated in Anthem - "Hell to the yes."
Vendors can only be found in Fort Tarsis.
No Pets in Anthem, and likely no domesticated animals at all.
You can harvest plants, but cannot hunt animals (for resources).
Ambient creatures can be attacked, but herds might fight back.
BioWare will put out Anthem Lore Videos.
BioWare will be using an all-new cast of Voice Actors for Anthem. So no returning VAs from previous games.
[New] There are Sports in the World of Anthem, though not playable.
Basic Game Mechanics
“The encounters are set up for four players,” says lead producer Ben Irving. “That’s where the fun is, and they’re built with that teamwork in mind.”
The javelins are designed to work together, creating opportunities for each other to shine. If a group of Scars are standing in the water, a lightning blast from the storm can shock them, doing damage and creating some clear shots for the ranger. A colossus may walk into the range of a mine, but with a raised shield to deflect damage and protect the party.
When certain abilities interact, you might get additional bonuses. These combos don’t seem to be as rigidly defined by the primer/detonator distinction we saw in the Mass Effect series.
“But even yourself, you’re able to pull off some combos. If you’ve frozen something, and then you detonate that with a missile or a melee strike, you’re going to get some cool combo bonuses.”
Examples of Solo Combos: Freeze + Shock Mace, Lightning + Rail Gun.
“For the critical path … if you do want to play by yourself, you can,” Gamble says. “We’re not limiting that artificially. But the game itself is built for you and a bunch of friends – because your friends are your companions in this case. That’s the whole point.”
You will need to be Online to play.
Health recovery is through pick-ups (red health orbs) from enemy kills (and only enemy kills as far as we know), as well a Revive mechanic.
Health Orbs have a weighted chance to drop when you kill or damage some types of enemies.
You can wait for a team Revive indefinitely, but you can also Respawn at the last resupply point you hit.
There will be Crafting.
Crafting Materials will include Plants (among other things), but not animal parts.
Crafting Materials can be bought from merchants, but only in small amounts with earned currency.
There will be a Storage (and?) Vault for your gear. It is not known yet if there will be an inventory limit.
There will be Emotes, and there will very likely be a Dab Emote.
[New] You can map at least 4 Emotes.
[New] Flares are a type of Emote.
They may implement cosmetic Idle Animations that you can change.
There will be Aim-Assist for controllers.
FPS is not locked on the PC.
Newer consoles may not be locked at 30 FPS. Still unclear for older consoles.
No plans for Cross-Play at the moment.
Looking into Cross-Platform saves.
We should be able to disable Damage Floaties when the game launches.
Anthem should be able to run on Ultra-Wide monitors.
They are looking into UI Customization.
There is a Color Blind Mode.
Keyboard & Mouse are supported on the PC, and you will be able to change your keybindings.
There will also be Controller support on the PC.
No Dialogue Options in cutscenes outside of Fort Tarsis.
If you try to venture beyond the outer boundaries of the open world, you will likely receive an out-of-bounds warning and be teleported back in-bounds.
No sex or nudity in Anthem.
You will be able to see your character's face in the GUI.
There will be a Customizable HUD.
The Day/Night Cycle is less than 1 hour (real time). Day/Night will also impact the enemy types you encounter and behavior.
Damage Floaties can be adjusted - On/Off, Size, & Transparency.
Currently no Death Penalties. Though that may change.
[New] There will not be any other vehicles/ships/etc. for the player to pilot other than your Javelin(s).
[New] There can be non-combat elements during missions.
Loot
Rarity Tiers:
Common
Uncommon
Rare
Epic
Legendary
Masterwork (Name TBD)
Loot will be instanced (each individual player receives their own loot drop), so no worries over loot theft.
Loot Rarity will be similar to Diablo 3.
You will need to return to Fort Tarsis or your Strider before you can determine the exact content of your randomized loot (like Destiny). This was done to continue to guide the player back the hubs, as well as not wanting players to be distracted by loot mid-mission, or the having idea of modifying their loadouts mid-mission.
At the time you pick up a Loot Drop, it will tell you the rarity and the type of item you'll get. So if you were to kill something and it had a Rare drop, you'll see that: eg. A 'Rare Assault Rifle'.
After you determine the exact content of your random loot at one of your hubs, you can then immediately go to The Forge to equip it.
Gear Drops are based on your Freelancer's level.
Gear will have random rolls for stats.
Loot locked in Strongholds will have a higher rarity, but (they believe) there is no loot specifically tied to Stongholds. Also, there is loot in chests, but don't require keys.
One specific kind of loot mentioned were Shaper Runes.
Cosmetic Loot Drops will likely bias towards the Javelin you are currently wearing (but not exclusively so).
There will be Ammo & Loot Drops in the world, and they will drop near the bodies (no searching).
There might be loot found underwater.
If you are disconnected from the server for any reason (or kicked from your group), you should not lose your Loot Drops or XP.
Higher end Loot that you missed picking up will be mailed to Fort Tarsis for you.
You (should) not be limited to equipping just one top tier item at a time like in some other games.
Online Game Mechanics
One of the key aspects of the world is its unpredictability, which results in new events taking place all the time. Maybe certain Shaper technology has switched on, and you need to shut it off. Or maybe a terrifying creature has spawned that you can take down.
Free Play: another activity which has you out in the sprawling world with no specific objectives to chase.
In Free Play you can jump in and help others with an objective, combat, etc. without having to join the group.
In Free Play you can still play with your friends, although a "group" is a looser concept in Free Play.
In Free Play, if you decide to join another player on a mission, you will Fast Travel to them.
In Free Play, you are encouraged to fly where you want. On missions, they will do things to encourage sticking to the mission somewhat.
In Free Play, you can be Revived by other players even if they are not in a group with you.
Most of the Lore will be found in Free Play.
There will be a storage place for Lore.
The game also generates minor tasks to complete; we saw a downed freelancer who needed help, and a member of the Sentinels (an organization that protects Fort Tarsis) to rescue.
If you want more directed play, you can tackle formal missions. These might be part of the critical path, or quests given to you by other characters in the world.
“We have NPC quest-givers in Tarsis,” Gamble says. “They’re called Agents, and those agents give you missions. The type of mission an agent will give you is based on a certain type of context. Some will give you context on the Scars, some will give you context on the Sentinels...
Anthem is Dynamic World. You might hear on Twitter about a crazy storm hitting on the weekend, see what people are experiencing, and then jump in the game and experience that same thing.
On the higher end of the challenge spectrum are Strongholds, which is a general term for instanced areas that require more teamwork and coordination than typical missions.
Though you encounter some Strongholds as part of the critical path, they also represent one of the ways Anthem continues to entice and challenge players in the elder game, after completion of the main story.
You cannot solo Strongholds, as well as some other high end content, but you do not need to do strongholds to complete the story.
[New] During Stronghold assaults, if one player drops out they will have a limited window to rejoin. After that, the game will attempt to get someone else. While they won't get the full rewards, there will be some rewards to encourage late joins.
A typical Stronghold run should take 35 - 40 min.
Right now there are Health Drops in Strongholds, but that may change.
You will not be kicked out of Stronghold if one of the players leave or is kicked out.
There will be Raid-like content in the elder game that are not Strongholds.
Elder Game content will either have a level requirement or require you to have completed the main story.
If you’re in Fort Tarsis and want to team up for a mission, you just open your map. That shows you the world and the available activities, along with who is currently undertaking them (weighted toward people on your friends list). If there’s an open slot, you just jump right into action.
“Our map system is kind of a LFG [looking for group] lobby and the world map from an RPG blended together,” Darrah says. “You see these opportunities on the map, blended in with your own experience.
Alternately, you can start your own mission, and that will show up on their maps as an available activity to join. You can also invite people specifically, or rely on the in-game notification system to alert your friends that you’ve started a task.
You can replay missions you have already completed with other people.
You can tweak the settings to dictate whether your game is public or private – and if it’s public, you can rest assured that plenty of missions are clear and intuitive enough that you can complete them without voice chat.
Because Anthem has a shared world and private hub, the structure of the game naturally splits groups apart. “I jump in and I’m able to do a mission with somebody, and that’s an experience that lasts maybe 20 minutes,” Warner says. “And then the system breaks us apart; I don’t have to say ‘I don’t want to play with you anymore.’ It just does. It breaks us apart and we each go back to our own Fort Tarsis.” Of course, if you and your friends just want to stick together and play for hours on end, you can do that without constantly disbanding and reforming the group.
Regardless of power level, any players can team up and start fighting. “It’ll feel like it’s the same amount of damage,” Irving says. “The difference will be, if I have a greater variety of gear at my disposal, I’m going to be more efficient because I have more things to use than you. But the idea is that it will feel good – it will feel like we’re both contributing.” Even if high-level players are doing a mission that takes place late in
the critical path, low-level players still have the option to join – if they confirm that they don’t mind spoilers.
The Alliance System: “Being with your friends, playing with your friends. We want to reward you for doing those things in lots of different ways.”
There will be no Couch Co-Op play.
There will be no PvP at launch. It allows BW to go broader on gear and weapons with less worries about balance.
There will be dedicated servers for Anthem, and there are 4 players/server. They run as virtual machines.
Methods to find people to play with - when you're not playing with friends:
1. You will get notifications of missions starting within you network that you can join.
2. You can use matchmaking to fill your own missions.
3. In the world map, you can see opportunities to join missions you may want to do.
On a mission, you'll focus on the action as opposed to conversational branching. That said, your actions and the missions you do MAY affect things.
If you join a friends instance at the same place in the story, you will get full credit.
If you do a mission you have already done to help out a friend, we will have special rewards for mentoring.
In Co-Op, you will not have to replay all the missions if they have the same amount of progress. Progress is shared.
In Co-Op there are no choices in cutscenes. So if a cutscene fires, everyone sees it and it lasts the same length of time for everyone. So no waiting.
[New] In Co-Op, you should be able to view other players' builds (armor, talents, etc.).
In-Game Chat: Our plans here aren’t locked. That said, we want missions to be doable by groups who are coordinating only through in game means. I.e. you shouldn’t need chat for most things you do.
However, as the challenge of content goes up, the need for Chat will too.
No AI Teammates: The nature of traversal and the verticality of the levels puts this out of our abilities ATM.
There will be Idle-Detection in the game.
There will be Tools to deal with harassment, slurs, etc. Squad leaders will be able to kick unwanted players.
There will be challenging endgame mechanics. We aren’t talking about those yet. Some of those may require chat.
There will be hidden loot, etc. rewarding exploration.
You should be able to view overall stats of players after missions and stronghold assaults.
There will be multiple opportunities to acquire any time-limited content.
The Map will start shrouded in fog of war.
There will be scoring modes in strikes and stronghold assaults for friendly competition.
Most of BioWare's systems are designed in such a way that they can do balance tweaks quickly.
There will be daily/weekly challenges, side quests, and repeatable quests.
There will be a Leaderboard.
Solo Mechanics
“For the critical path … if you do want to play by yourself, you can,” Gamble says. “We’re not limiting that artificially. But the game itself is built for you and a bunch of friends – because your friends are your companions in this case. That’s the whole point.”
Solo combat combos are possible. If you’ve frozen something, and then you detonate that with a missile or a melee strike, you’re going to get some cool combo bonuses.”
Enemies
"Trash Mobs" are not bullet sponges - they're there for you to roll over fairly easily and feel powerful. However Elites and Bosses definitely have more health.
The Swarm Tyrant seen at the end of the E3 trailer has the ability to web Freelancers, and if it is not blocked or dodged you'll be trapped, requiring another player to free you. It is also a multi-stage battle with the usual adds.
The big heavy Scar unit with the shield has fuel tanks strapped to its arm and back which you can blow up for a lot of bonus damage (may also cause damage to nearby friendlies).
There's also a unit with a heavy LMG that can hover up in the air, you can destroy it's jetpack to knock it out of the air.
[New] There are enemies capable of immobilizing you or knocking you out of the air.
[New] The 3 main enemy factions we know so far: The Dominion, Scars, and Outlaws.
The Protagonist (Freelancer)
You will have Character Customization (face, hair, & likely beards) for your Freelancer. However, they put most of their effort into Javelin personalization.
You can choose your gender.
There won't be any way to change your character's appearance after creation, at least at launch.
While in 1st Person View, you can look down to see your body.
Your Freelancer will have voiced dialogue. But you will not have a selection of VAs to choose from.
There should be nothing preventing you creating multiple profiles, if you wanted to.
Your Freelancer (pilot) has a Level that gives you perks that apply to all Javelins. Additionally, you will get better gear for each Javelin.
Skills have a Point-Unlock System, and you will have the option to Respec your Freelancer.
Inventory has a cap, but it shouldn't be a burden.
Characters
Haluk is the mechanic who keeps your Strider operational, but he also has a long history with the player character. He's jolly - sometimes he's angry but in this he's pretty jolly.
Haluk will be voiced by Nick E. Tarabay.
Owen is a Cypher – a term for someone who provides information and support to Freelancers in the field. He’s happy to help in this role, but Owen also wants to get in his own javelin and help out.
Faye, who has a personal connection to one of the main threads from the critical path. She's your oldest friend with whom you have a lot of history.
Romances: “There are no romances. There are friendships. Some of the stuff we did with Mass Effect – the Citadel DLC specifically – there was a lot of friendship moments. You and Garrus sitting up, shooting – that kind of stuff, we want to lean into that. The romantic stuff, we’re moving away from that for Anthem.” There is a flirtatious quality to some of the relationships though.
Future Romances: The door is not closed for after launch.
NPCs will not accompany you on missions. They are more like Advisors from DA:I.
While you will occasionally see and interact with NPC Javelins in the world, this is not what typically happens. However, your Cypher and other NPCs will talk to you throughout missions. So yes to banter, no to NPCs with you.
Each player gets customized NPC reactions to their SP choices, even in the shared world. So a reaction Player A gets from an NPC might be hostile, but for Player B might be friendly, in that mission. The mission is the same structure, but the flavoring around it will be different based on the choices that you made.
Due to your SP choices "radio chatter" may differ for different players in the same moment of the same mission.
As is traditional with BW games, you won't always be in agreement with your crew. There is the potential for conflict.
Combat Mechanics
You may enable 'aim assist'.
A large component of enemy target selection is based on proximity, though there are a number of other factors that can influence it. In general, if you want an enemy to focus on you, stand next to it and shoot it in the face.
It has been heavily implied that there will be no traditional cover mechanics (outside personal defenses like shields), and no squatting in Anthem, and that combat "encourages mobility".
No Friendly Fire (at the moment).
No aerial duels with rival Javelins.
There will be consumables.
Combat Exosuit (Javelin)
I. The Ranger
You start with a Ranger, which is a type of javelin with solid all-around capabilities.
The Ranger has a wrist slot for different Rockets (eg. straight damage or one that lights enemies on fire).
The Ranger can double-jump & dash.
The Ranger can only hover for a short amount of time
II. The Storm
The Storm Javelin is almost like a Magic User, using the Anthem of Creation which is the energy in the world.
Two weapons specifically mentioned for the Storm Javelin - Lightning & Ice Shards. Though we know they have other elemental weapons as well.
The Storm Javelin hover is different than the other suits, you hover by pressing jump again. It does not generate heat. Right now there's no limitation on it, you can hover forever.
Hinted at having Cloaking technology.
You will get the Storm Javelin at roughly 5th level.
It's been hinted that the Storm can wield Swords.
The Storm can Teleport.
III. The Interceptor
The Interceptor Javelin is very fast and agile.
Hinted at having Cloaking technology.
It's been hinted that the Interceptor can wield Swords.
IV. The Colossus
The Colossus can use arm-mounted heavy weapons why flying, but not their shoulder-mounted weapons.
The Colossus has a deployable shield & a thruster-based jump.
V. General
During the course of the critical path, you earn three more javelins: the heavily armored Colossus, the elementally powered Storm, and the Interceptor (think Rogue)...
The order in which you unlock the 3 other Javelins will be determined by the order you do certain missions.
It will take less than a quarter of the game to unlock all the Javelins.
There are no gender variations on the Javelins.
1. The differences were barely noticeable.
2. In an era of harassment, having gender variation would mean also allowing players to choose their suit if they wished. This was unplanned work.
3. And some other things.
There won't be able to adjust the Javelin's height, weight, etc..
Primary Gun Types: Pistols, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Grenade Launchers, and Miniguns.
There are Sniper Rifles in the game... for now. It's still being determined whether it can be balanced for the game.
You will not be able to upgrade low-level weapons into high-level ones.
You can Reload while Hovering.
Some weapon types can be used by different exosuits. Lighter suits can use Pistols, however the Colossus can't. But everyone else can't use the Minigun the Colossus uses. And then each Javelin has different gear slots that are unique to that Javelin.
While in the Javelin, the Freelancer will see himself in 3rd person view.
There is an (as yet unrevealed) in fiction reason for this.
For some weapons you will enter First Person View to stare down the weapon sights when in tight aim.
Your Javelins cannot be damaged in such a way where you'd be required to return to base in order to have it repaired (like in some other games).
Javelins have a Regenerating Shield (at least on the Ranger) which needs to brought down before your Javelin will take real damage (which does not regenerate).
It's been hinted (maybe) that the Storm & Interceptor Javelins might have Support/Healing Abilities.
Auras were mentioned as having abilities that not just straight-up damage.
Each class of Javelin has its own specific Ultimate attack. And there won't be any options to change it, at least at launch.
The environment can affect your Javelin (hot, cold, wet, dry) and give you tactical advantages as well.
The Javelins have lights to see at night.
You can own only one of each Javelin. You can reconfigure them at will in a hub.
They are shying away from the more rigid roles found in MMOs (Tanks, etc.). They want the Javelins to be somewhat flexible in order to accommodate different playstyles. A more DPS-leaning Colossus was used as an example. Though that could change post-launch based on player feedback.
In addition to their locked-in melee attacks, defensive maneuvers, and ultimate attacks, each suit can equip two weapons, along with two pieces of gear – a category that includes a wide variety of tools like explosives, energy blasts, and more.
However, you can’t just mix-and-match, since the javelins have access to different arsenals that accentuate their natural abilities.
Beyond a javelin’s combat capabilities, you also personalize its appearance through paintjobs and other cosmetic additions that can change your javelin’s silhouette. BioWare likens it to customizing a car, interacting and tweaking at different layers to ensure that your javelins look cool.
You can freely switch between your exosuits while in Fort Tarsis or your mobile base – a giant mechanical walker called a Strider.
Improving your javelins isn’t the only way you get stronger. Your pilot also gains skills that apply universally to any javelin you use. For instance, the booster jets on your javelins overheat with continued use, but by investing in a certain pilot skill, you can increase the amount of time you’re able to stay airborne in all of your suits.
Different Javelins have different properties in relation to jets overheating.
There will likely be more Javelins introduced in the future.
Your Jetpacks generate heat and you will need to either land or find another way to cool them off (eg. flying through waterfalls, underwater, skim the surface of water, potentially rain storms, etc.).
[New] In the rain, Javelins are capable of flying longer, possibly indefinitely.
Jetpacks can also be cooled by Ice Damage... but it's still damage.
The Jetpack's heat builds faster the steeper your climb. It builds a lot slower if you dive (and may even go down a bit - tbd). Also, they currently cool down more quickly if you haven't overheated them. Mechanics like these allow more experienced players to extend their flight times longer than someone new to the game.
Outside of combat, the Javelins all have the same (overland travel) speed to keep groups together.
There will be upgrade(s) for longer flight duration.
You have to "stop flying" to land. If you fly into the ground... it will hurt.
You can turn off your Jetpack in mid-flight.
[New] You cannot fly backwards, but you can move backwards while hovering.
[New] The Javelins are capable of Jumping. Some can Double-Jump.
There will be Ammo Drops in the world.
There is a Breath Meter when underwater.
Pure Melee Builds? Not at launch.
Javelins will not get worn out with use, but will have visible wear states.
Skins and color schemes are multiple use.
Cosmetics will be Javelin-specific.
Link to Javelin Icons:
There will be an option to save Multiple Personalization Loadouts.
Game Hub (Fort Tarsis)
Fort Tarsis is a major human settlement on the planet, and your primary base of operations – where you customize your javelin, equip gear, talk to the inhabitants, and sort through loot.
[New] Fort Tarsis is named after General Helena Tarsis of The Legion of Dawn (creators of the Javelin).
Fort Tarsis is not a social hub. In fact, it’s the opposite. It’s a private refuge.
The consequences of the player's choices, both small and large, will be most felt here.
In that sense, the tale that unfolds in Fort Tarsis is almost like a traditional single-player narrative, but with cooperative gameplay bridging the gaps.
From your support crew to quest-giving agents to other denizens, this area is populated by an array of characters for you to interact with, and you build those connections at your own pace in relative safety.
“We have NPC quest-givers in Tarsis,” Gamble says. “They’re called Agents, and those agents give you missions. The type of mission an agent will give you is based on a certain type of context. Some will give you context on the Scars, some will give you context on the Sentinels.
You will be in First-Person mode while in the hubs, and cannot change to Third-Person.
The reason for FP mode in hubs:
1. We want Fort Tarsis to feel tight and human sized. 3rd person requires wider halls.
2. When you walk near a Javelin and look up, we want to to feel the size.
3. In a Javelin, you have enhanced senses.
Fort Tarsis sits higher than the Strider allowing you to fly further in a single span.
Mobile Hub (Strider)
You can change your Javelin in the Strider (your forward base).
There are no upgrades for the Strider, at least at launch.
Game Economy
The game has a Premium Currency, but does not have lootboxes (by any name), and no pay-to-win purchases. Strictly towards cosmetic/vanity items. 'Forever'. You can earn the same cosmetics through gameplay as well.
A future payment for new additional content at some point is not ruled out but is not yet detailed (but it won't be via lootboxes or pay-to-win).
Additional payment is unlikely for additional story content.
Anthem will not have a monthly subscription.
There will not be a Season Pass.
But additional content like a new Javelin might require purchase or might not, too early to say.
You cannot earn the Legion of Dawn items.
The Legion of Dawn Javelins will very likely be unlocked at the same time as the other Javelins of the same class.
The Legion of Dawn Javelins are only cosmetically different from the other Javelins, and won't impact gameplay.
The Legion of Dawn Weapons should unlock after the tutorial. They are good for that stage of the game, but you will be able to find equivalents in-game.
There are similar weapons to the Legion of Dawn weapons in the world, they are not overpowered.
There is an earned in-game currency.
There are things that can only be bought with in-game (earned) currency (eg. Crafting Materials from Vendors).
Trading: No trading. At least for now. We needed to ensure we could control balance.
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Jul 5, 2018 08:27
